FORT WORTH — When recent hail storms killed five flamingos at the Fort Worth Zoo, we learned something new about just how good the zoo is at breeding these exotic birds.
For a species called the "lesser flamingo," no other zoo even comes close.
Flamingos are always a hit here, but getting them to hit on each other took years to figure out.
The African lesser flamingos just weren't feeling it.
"What we were doing wasn't working, obviously," explained chief bird curator Katy Unger. "So we decided to do something drastic and different... and it worked."
The zoo's plan was based partly on observation and partly on experimentation.
They built an indoor enclosure, cranked up the heat to at least 95, and changed the light cycle to mimic the flamingos' natural African habitat.
"Some have termed it the 'love shack,' but I like to call it the 'breeding area,'" Unger said.
Oh, and they installed mirrors on the walls.
"The mirrors are basically to make the birds feel like they're in a larger group than they are," Unger said.
It turns out that little touch of Vegas makes the flamingos feel more comfortable. And what happens in the breeding area doesn't stay in the breeding area.
The baby birds, now a little over two weeks old, are brought out every day to exercise, stretch their legs.
The zoo has welcomed 19 chicks so far this year. Four more eggs are now incubating. Bird keepers remove the eggs from nests until they're about to hatch so other adult birds won't damage them.
"That one is sitting on a fake egg," Unger noted. "We call them 'dummy eggs.'"
Sure it's sneaky, but it works.
The Fort Worth Zoo raises more lesser flamingos than all other zoos in North America and Europe combined.
Now you know why.
